60 H. HOFER, HOLOMORPHIC CURVES AND DYNAMICS
The first observation is the following
Proposition 2.8. Let u be as in (6). Then
(7) m= lim r u(s,·)*>.
S-+ 00 1 51
exists.
If m > 0 we call the puncture positive, if m < 0 negative, and m = 0 removable.
Proof. By Stokes' theorem
{ u(s,-)*>.= { u(O,-)*>.+ { u*d>.
l 51 l 51 110 ,s] x 81
Hence the map
=:Co+ r ~ [lnuslJ + lnutlJ]dsdt.
110 ,s]x8^1
s ~ { u(s,-)* >.
1 51
is monotone. On the other hand
{ u*d>.:::; { u*d>.:::; E(u) < oo.
110 ,s]x8^1 110 ,oo)x81
Hence the limit exists. D
Theorem 2.9. Let u be as in (7) and (sk) a sequence converging to oo. Then (sk)
has a subsequence still denoted by ( s k) such that
lim u(sk, t) = x(tm) in C^00
k-+oo
for some orbit x of x = X(x). Herem is th e number introduced in (7). We note
that in case m f=. 0 th e map x has to be a necessarily periodic orbit for X with
period lml.
Proof. Let us first show that the gradient 'Vu is uniformly bounded:
l'Vu( s, t) I :::; c V(s,t) E [O,oo) x S^1.
As norm we take
l(h, k)lta,u) = h^2 + (>.(u)(k))^2 + d>.(k, J(u)k).
Let us view u as a map
[O, oo) x JR ~ JR x M.
Arguing indirectly we find a sequence (sk, tk) with tk E [O, 1], Sk ~ +oo such that
l'Vu(sk, tk)I ~ +oo.